LAL (Learn A Lot)
December 3, 2009
December 2009, Newsletter Issue #13Dear Friends,
I hope you’ve had a good Thanksgiving and are looking forward to celebrating the coming of Christ. I feel so blessed and hope you do too. (If my newsletter arrives with spacing and funny characters, please excuse. My website technicians say if you set your account to receive messages as HTML, the formatting should improve.)
I love learning. Always have and always will. Last night my best friend from high school and I attended a seminar on atrial fibrillation. Doctors explained options for treatment, and a patient testified about a successful “ablation.” The only downside was that the room was 20 degrees below zero. Well, maybe not quite. But it was a great evening and we now have a much better understanding of how the heart works (or doesn’t work).
On Monday I played Monopoly with grandchildren ages 7 and 10. As we completed transactions I realized how much they were learning about math. The banker needed to give change. The players needed to figure out if they could afford to put a house on Broadway, and so it went. Learning doesn’t have to be tedious. It can be fun.
I enjoy interviewing people for newspaper and magazine articles because I learn so much. I recently wrote about a woman who played the Great Organ at the National Cathedral in Washington D. C. Did you know anyone can ask to do that? Just go to the website and e-mail the organist. I also wrote on the psychological effects of clutter and have been attacking corners ever since. I’m now writing about a man who wears a left ventricle assist device (a heart pump). Fascinating stuff!
The other day I took my “Magic Eye” book from the shelf. The pages show overall repetitious patterns, but when I put the book close to my nose, relax my eyes and stare at the page, I see a 3-D image floating above the busy background. Amazing!
To me that process is an analogy for learning itself. Learning helps us to see things that previously were hidden. Learning can be challenging, especially if you’re a student—but blessings are sure to follow. Solomon says, “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.” Proverbs 2:10
Let’s set a goal to learn something new each day in 2010. That shouldn’t be too hard! I will send a copy of Sisterhood of Faith: 365 Life-Changing Stories About Women Who Made a Difference to the first person who e-mails me about what they learned after January 1. (sbrosius@epix.net)
Have a blessed Christmas.
Shirley Brosius
Upcoming Engagements:
December 5, 1 to 3 p.m. – Book signing at Waldenbooks, Colonial Park Mall, Harrisburg.
Friends of the Heart:
January 9, 10 a.m. – Christmas Café, Community Evangelical Free Church, Harrisburg, “Mary: Ordinary or Extraordinary”
January 16, 10:30 a.m. – Trinity Lutheran Church, Robesonia, “Mary, Martha and Their Psychologist”
April 10 – Women’s FaithLift Retreat, Evangelical Free Church, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Mothers Day programs: “That Face in the Mirror: Who Do You See?”
May 8, 11 a.m. – Hebron Church, Millersburg
May 8, 6 p.m. – St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Reinerton
May 16, 5 p.m. – Eberly’s Mill Church of God, Camp Hill.